in a few feet of him, and not a leaf was ruffled by the passing air,
of which his ear did not detect the whispering sound. At length,
however, the mournful notes of a whippoorwill became blended with the
moanings of an owl; his heavy eyes occasionally sought the bright rays
of the stars, and then he fancied he saw them through the fallen lids.
At instants of momentary wakefulness he mistook a bush for his associate
sentinel; his head next sank upon his shoulder, which, in its turn,
sought the support of the ground; and, finally, his whole person become
relaxed and pliant, and the young man sank into a deep sleep, dreaming
that he was a knight of ancient chivalry, holding his midnight vigils
before the tent of a recaptured princess, whose favor he did not despair
of gaining, by such a proof of devotion and watchfulness.

How long the tired Duncan lay in this insensible state he never knew
himself, but his slumbering visions had been long lost in total
forgetfulness, when he was awakened by a light tap on the shoulder.
Aroused by this signal, slight as it was, he sprang upon his feet with a
confused recollection of the self-imposed duty he had assumed with the
commencement of the night.

"Who comes?" he demanded, feeling for his sword at the place where it
was usually suspended, "Speak! friend or enemy?"

"Friend," replied the low voice of Chingachgook; who, pointing upwards
at the luminary which was shedding its mild light through the opening in
the trees, directly in their bivouac, immediately added, in his rude
English, "moon comes, and white man's fort far--far off; time to move,
when sleep shuts both eyes of the Frenchman!"

"You say true! call up your friends, and bridle the horses, while I
prepare my own companions for the march!"

"We are awake, Duncan," said the soft, silvery tones of Alice within the
building, "and ready to travel very fast after so refreshing a sleep;
but you have watched through the tedious night in our behalf, after
having endured so much fatigue the live-long day!"

"Say, rather, I would have watched, but my treacherous eyes betrayed me;
twice have I proved myself unfit for the trust I bear."

"Nay, Duncan, deny it not," interrupted the smiling Alice, issuing from
the shadows of the building into the light of the moon, in all the
loveliness of her freshened beauty; "I know you to be a heedless one,
when self is the object of your care, and but too vigilant in favor of
others. Can we n